Greetings, gentle readers.
I would like to read "Until We Have Faces," by C.S. Lewis, which is the retelling of the story of (Fill in the blank with name of some ancient writing.) Problem: I hate to confess this, but... somehow, I never read a whole big heap of the literature written before, say, 1800. Specifically, this whole genre called "mythology" is unfortunately and disturbingly foreign to me. I read Aesop's Fables once. Also, a drama entitled "Antigone," and part of a poem called "Beowulf," which I believe was about some kind of... large creature. I know that Dante wrote a work called "Inferno," and Chaucer wrote "Canterbury Tales." Also, I believe there was a beast called Cyclops that had one eye. Helen's face launched a thousand ships, but I don't know where they were sailing, and there was a big wooden horse full of soldiers. Thus ends my knowledge of literature, pre-1800.
(You think I'm kidding? I'm really not kidding! Oh sure, I've left out the smattering of Shakespeare I read and a few other things, but not much...)
Anyway, here is what I would like: I would like one of you Smart Literary People to recommend to me an Easy way to read enough mythology to understand CS Lewis a bit better...? Like, where should I start?
Preferably such a volume would contain some kind of Notes. (Written on a third-grade level would be best.)
Thanks awfully!
Love, Neb
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7 comments:
My first suggestion is to have a huge cup of coffee before you even start. :).
Davilyn
Literature is overrated. Study music instead.
"Till We Have Faces" is a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche.
Happy reading!
*whispers* I never read the myth of Cupid and Psyche either, and I still loved Till We Have Faces. Background really is not necessary... you can work it out from what's in the book. He majorly changed the story anyway.
Reading some more pre-1800 literature is not a bad idea, however. ;-) Though I'm not sure I've read a great deal more than you have. More Shakespeare, perhaps, and we read some in my college lit class (like the Inferno and some of Don Quixote).
Anyway, enjoy TWHF. It's perhaps his best book. I think Lewis did the best job of any man I know at getting inside a woman's head.
P.S. The ships launched by Helen's face were launched from Greek to Troy, to retrieve her from the Trojans. Ditto on the wooden horse.
Don't just read Shakespeare: his popular plays are drivel. That's why teenage girls like them.
Here's a list (in semi-historical order) of decent ones:
1) Odyssey
2) Illiad
3) Plato: Republic
4) Beowulf
5) Dante's Inferno/Purgatory/Paradise
6) Milton's Paradise Lost
7) Machiavelli's The Prince
8) Shakespeare's King Lear
9) More's Utopia
10) Throw in some TS Eliot for good measure and you're set.
I might try Bulfinch's Mythology. It's a decent anthology of myths from various and sundry. Vivian's right, though -- don't need to actually know the real story of Cupid and Psyche to understand TWHF. But your average library could very conceivably have Bulfinch.
If you're ever interested, I've got _The Riverside Chaucer_, which is the complete works of Chaucer ... in Middle English. Hehheheheh.
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